Sydney Day 2 (and a little bit of China) - 14th Jan

We checked out of the IBIS and took a rather hairy taxi ride to the YHA in the Rocks area, which was on the other side of town. We were going to catch the train but Emma's large wash bag and growing menagerie of koala and kangaroo souvenirs were starting to make the bags a little too heavy for long distance carrying!

It would have been disappointing if this YHA was not in keeping with the others we had stopped in, ie. prison/ correctional centre decor. The room was right on message, but the en suite bathroom was relatively opulent – 50:50 is not too bad I guess.

The YHA is relatively new and has all the mod-cons. The views from the roof deck are pretty special too.

Not a bad view from the YHA roof deck.

Once checked in we made our way back to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The gallery was showing the Terracotta Army exhibition from China. We had missed it in London and so we were more than happy to spend the couple of hours wandering around it. To cut a long story short, the army was created by the 'First Emperor of China' to guard his tomb in the afterlife.



This was for sale in the Gift Shop,
 but we would not fit it in our bags. No
cameras were allowed in the exhibition.

By the time we had finished it was late afternoon, so we wandered through the parks back towards the Opera House. We then had some food on the waterfront before heading for a pre-show drink in the theatre bar.

The show we were going to see was called 'Le Cirque – Adrenaline'. A high octane modern circus act with high wires, motorbikes, trampolines etc. Our seats were almost side on to the stage and it was a real experience seeing and hearing the performers from this vantage point.

The show was great but the experience of being in the Opera house was the real motivation for going. The building is stunning outside as well as inside the auditoriums but retains a half-built, exposed piping, bare concrete look in the public areas – you may expect a little more, like a coat of paint, if you were paying $102mil.

After the show, we wandered back to the YHA along Circular Quay and through The Rocks area, stopping now and then to take pictures and people watch. It was nice to just soak up the atmosphere of the city.

Back at the YHA we read our books in the common room for an hour before heading to bed.

We had still not decided if we were going to go on the Harbour Bridge climb or not.